Morningstar Saga
= Morningstar Saga = 'Plague of the Dead ' Part One takes off in ''Plague of the Dead''. A new virus rises from the depths of Africa, turning all in its path into fevered brutes, actively hunting those few who remain uninfected. From the West, General Francis Sherman leads a ragtag band of soldiers and survivors across America in the hopes of finding a vaccine before they're all taken by carriers. From the East, Dr. Anna Demilio, the world's best shot at finding the vaccine, heads toward a little-known laboratory with a spunky anchorwoman and a tough-as-nails NSA defector. The two groups plan on meeting in the middle—if they live. Plague of the Dead: The Morningstar Strain was originally released by Permuted Press in December of 2006. Since then, Plague has been picked up for distribution by Simon & Schuster in December of 2009. Thunder and Ashes Part Two: Thunder and Ashes picks up a brace of months after Part One left off. Those who survived the initial pandemic find themselves in an alien world, though few enough can make the same boast. It seems to the survivors that nearly every town has been wiped clean of uninfected human life. Of course, there is the occasional bastion of civilization—and vice. Added to the already-considerable menace of the infected are the threat of bullets, shot, and malice from those living beings who choose to stand in the way of the survivors. Thunder and Ashes (MSS Book 2) was released by Permuted in April of 2008, and it was also picked up by S&S to be re-released in November of 2010. Survivors Part Three: Survivors '' '' For the world, the Morningstar Virus was the end. For these Survivors, it was just the beginning. '' '' '' ''Their journey across the decimated United States is one of hardship and sacrifice, but it also one with a goal: the Cure. This is the story of two separate bands of survivors, fighting to thrive, post-Morningstar. Now that the dust has settled and people that have made it through to the other side have found themselves living a nightmare, the old rules of society have no bearing in this new world. '' '' '' ''As these small groups of Survivors come together, including a virologist in one and an immune soldier in another, they face not only the constant threat of the Infected and marauding Raiders that live of robbing others, but the more devious threat of Sawyer, an agent of the Chairman of the Reunited States of America, who believes that Doctor Demilio already has the cure, and he will stop at nothing to find her. '' '' '' ''The Survivors fight not only for the future, but for their own souls, as they learn that, even here, at the End of the World, there are some lines they will not cross. '' ''Survivors (MSS Book 3) was finished by a ghost writer in January of 2010. Hints Spinoffs "Yeah, I sure plan to—-after Survivors I'm definitely writing more short stories set in the same universe. Some might intersect the trilogy, others might be stand-alone. Things like what happened in the UK, what Franklin did after the other sailors left, how Abraham survived the infection, how Ron and Katie managed to survive in the theater and so on and so forth--these'll be covered. I'll probably post about half on the website. Whether they'll ever be printed in book form or not remains to be seen. It's still rather murky and future-distant." —Z.A. Recht Zombie animals Got any squirrels or stray cats in your neighborhood? Run outside real quick and catch one for me, then bite it. Fast little fuckers, ain't they? =) The idea is that, yes, a Morningstar-infected sprinter-dog is not out of the question. But a dog will also run away from infected, and won't stick its nose in putrid, infected flesh, so you'd almost never see one. And a dog is the most likely animal, in my opinion, to be infected, given their proximity with people. Cats are there, but they're skittish at the best of times. I'm sure they'd be right up a tree or hanging from a chandelier indoors to get away from infected, and safely out of reach. I am certain there are exceptions--a kenneled dog, for instance, that can't get away might be infected. A horse in a stable might be infected. But nothing loose--nothing free--would really be caught up in it outside of humans. When you really think about it, almost everything is faster or more nimble than us. So--bottom line, I suppose--is that yes, there are almost certainly sprinter/horses and shambler/dogs out there somewhere, but they're relatively rare. --Angelgu323 18:25, 3 May 2009 (UTC)